Padula: Natural cannabis caught up in dangers of synthetics

Thursday

This modern era of “fake news” and crazed misinformation generated faster than our brains can process has left many disoriented and vulnerable to accepting rumor as fact.

I see an urgency to engage with truth-deniers in the arena of cannabis, particularly the medical aspect. Prohibition has historically created more problems than the one it intended to squelch. Just look at cannabis prohibition — it has ruined lives, packed prisons with perfectly good people and cost America billions.

Misinformed citizens have become overwhelmed with rapid changes to the laws governing the plant — giving way to an even more radical breed of prohibitionist.

With this, I feel the need to shed light on a danger directly related to cannabis prohibition which has disappeared from arguments in favor of cannabis legalization — prohibition’s role in creating a legal market for a much more sinister menace, "synthetic marijuana."

Synthetic marijuana is a very misleading use of language. It refers to a class of substances more accurately called cannabinoid receptor agonists or synthetic cannabinoids (SCs).

''Marijuana" itself is only a slang term, but we all know that it's referring to the actual plant which produces psychoactive effects through tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). SCs, on the other hand, get their name from their effects on various cannabinoid receptors in the brain. Synthetic marijuana is in no way related to what people traditionally refer to as marijuana — it is important that this is understood. It's all just calculated word play.

In 2012, the “Synthetic Drug Abuse Prevention Act” placed several classes of psychoactive substances, including many synthetic cannabinoids, into Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) — the most-restrictive classification. However, SCs are still found in shady smoke shops and gas stations around the United States. I saw it openly displayed recently a gas station that now sells pipes and bongs.

“Spice,” the first popular brand of SC, now serves as sort of a blanket term for all of them. “Spice” mostly appears as plant matter sprayed with liquid synthetic cannabinoids. It comes in shiny packaging with names closely mimicking actual cannabis strains. The plant materials are unknown, the chemicals being sprayed aren't disclosed and it eludes any type of testing as it’s basically being sold as potpourri.

The biggest difference of all? Unlike natural cannabis, synthetic cannabinoids are dangerous, even fatal. Common adverse reactions to SC are high blood pressure, rapid heart rate, vomiting, seizures, hallucinations and even death.

According to a study conducted by the Center for Disease Control (CDC), 15 deaths were attributed to SC use in 2015, along with 7,369 calls made to the Poison Control Center. Though the number of Poison Control calls has reduced, according to their public data sheets, a rash of recent incidents point to another rise in SC’s popularity.

For example, back in April we saw one of the worst large-scale poisoning of users to date. Three people died, and more than 100 others became violently ill after consuming a toxic batch of SCs circulating mostly in the Midwest. Symptoms included unexplained bruising, coughing up blood, bleeding from the nose and gums, blood in urine and feces and excessively heavy menstruation. The ingredient responsible — rat poison.

So, with these frightening statistics — why would anyone use this toxic product?

Study after study has shown the most-common reason for the use of SCs is their invisibility in drug screenings. This makes them enticing to teenagers, parolees, prisoners, athletes and, sadly, members of the military.

SCs have been particularly devastating to soldiers seeking relief from pain, PTSD, and other severe anxiety disorders. Botanical cannabis has been shown to be effective in achieving this, but soldiers fear the repercussions of testing positive for THC.

Synthetic cannabinoids have further demonized natural plant-based cannabis because reports on SC rarely make it clear that it’s NOT really cannabis. People hear about the deaths from SC, not understanding that the product consumed is more closely related to drain cleaner than THC. I’ve even received emails from people saying “Cannabis is killing our children!” According to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), there is no evidence to suggest cannabis has killed anyone. Synthetics, on the other hand, are dangerous. They are two different things.

The birth of synthetic cannabinoids is just one of the many terrifying and heartbreaking byproducts of cannabis prohibition. Federally legalizing cannabis or at least removing cannabis from standard drug testing policies could help make SCs unnecessary.

Gregg Padula is an employee of GateHouse Media New England. He has experience in several areas of the cannabis industry, and now serves as an advocate for both patients' and workers’ rights. He can be reached at gpadula@wickedlocal.com.